‘O you ugly creature,’ said she; ‘I am crying
because I have lost my golden ball that has slipped
away from me and has fallen into the well.’

‘Be still and do not cry,’ answered the frog; ‘I

can help you, but if I restore the ball, what will’

you do for me?’
‘Dear good frog,’ said she, ‘I will give you my
rings and necklaces.’
ane frog answered: ‘Rings and necklaces I want
not.’
‘Then,’ said she, ‘I will give you my sill dresses.’
‘Silk dresses I value not,’ said the frog. ‘They
would be spoiled by the water.’
‘I will give you lollipops,’ said the princess.
‘They would melt in the water,’ answered the frog.
‘I will give you my little gold watch,’ said she.
‘The water would stop the works,’ said he.
nee you shall have my little red shoes,’ said
she.
‘They are too large for my feet,’ he answered.
‘Then the gold comb with which I fasten up my
back hair,’ she said.
‘I have no back hair—never had, never shall,’
replied the frog.
‘What then can satisfy you?’ she asked, and
began to weep again.
The frog answered: ‘If you will love me, and let
me be your companion and playfellow, and sit at
your table, and eat off your plate, and drink out of
your cup, and sit on your shoulder, and whisper
into your ear, and sleep on your little bed, then and
only then will I dive down and bring up your
golden bail.’
‘I will promise all this,’ said the princess, ‘if you
will only get me my precious ball.’ But she
thought to herself: ‘What is this silly frog saying ?
Let him remain in the water and associate with
efts and newts, and not seek to mix in human
society.’

229

THE
FROG
PRINCE